It was a battle of one-handed backhands in the opening round of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. Stefanos Tsitsipas was up against Dominic Thiem, and the pair did not disappoint the crowd. The match went on for two hours, and the crowd also got to see a bizarre point in between the match. Tsitsipas got distracted for a second as he got confused about what happened on the point.
At the beginning of the second set, Thiem was pushed to the far end of the court by Tsitsipas. The home crowd favorite hit a high-placed forehand lob, which allegedly hit the overhead lights. The Greek player ended up losing the point. He looked at the chair umpire in disbelief. “So tsisipas should’ve never hit the ball…he bi*ched after he lost the point,” commented a fan after watching the point.
So tsisipas should’ve never hit the ball…he bitched afte he lost the point.
— Chanobus (@Chanobus1) October 25, 2023
Yup, it did. People who were watching in the stadium posted about it.
— LavanyaSingerDinesh🌺 (@LavanyaVocalNEW) October 24, 2023
The chair umpire did not replay the point as expected by Tsitsipas. One fan blamed the 25-year-old for not stopping play as he continued rallying. The fan commented, “he played it though.. if he won that point would he have complaint?.” Things would have been different if play was stopped mid-point.
he played it though.. if he won that point would he have complaint?
— Tan (@Liz2023Tan) October 24, 2023
The first-round match saw both players accumulating a total of 56 winners and 16 unforced errors. The world No. 7 looked in good form while beating Thiem 7-6 (5), 6-4. The 30-year-old has now lost six matches to Tsitsipas out of 11. The last time either of the players recorded a straight-set win over the other was in 2018 at Toronto, which Tsitsipas won.
Stefanos Tsitsipas few wins away from qualifying for Nitto ATP Finals
The Nitto ATP Finals still has four spots left for qualification. Tsitsipas is currently in sixth position with 3740 points in the race for the season-ending event. He is 535 points behind Andrey Rublev, who is also playing at the Erste Bank Open. Rublev and Tsitsipas need to secure deep runs at Vienna to secure their entry to Turin. They will be facing threats from Alexander Zverev, who is present in Vienna.
Zverev is only 325 points behind Tsitsipas and has a chance of qualifying before the Greek No.1. The world No.10 can strengthen his bid if he manages to enter the finals and if Tsitsipas faces an early exit. Rublev is the favorite to qualify ahead of Zverev and Tsitsipas. Along with these players, there is competition at Basel as Holger Rune and Taylor Fritz are playing to enter the top eight.
An ace and a hug to finish it off! 🤩🥰
Stefanos #Tsitsipas 🇬🇷 wins 7-6(5) 6-4 against Dominic #Thiem at #erstebankopen pic.twitter.com/IAZMT0WZPY— Erste Bank Open (@ErsteBankOpen) October 24, 2023
Tsitsipas has 46 wins this season, which is less than Rublev and Zverev, who have won 50 matches. This year’s Australian Open finalist needs to find his form in his next match against qualifier Tomas Machac. Tsitsipas is aiming to play in the Nitto ATP Finals for the sixth consecutive year.